Counterbalance centrifugal separator



y 23, 1961 F. O'CONOR COUNTERBALANCE CENTRIFUGAL SEPARATOR Filed July 16, 195'? FIG.I

INVENTOR.

FRANK O'CONOR TORNEY .movable discharging shoes of such mechanisms.

Unite States Patent COUNTERBALAN CE CENTRIFUGAL SEPARATOR Frank OConor, Moline, Ill., assignor to American Machine and Metals, Inc., Moline, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 16, 1957, Ser. No. 672,262

3 Claims. (Cl. 210-375) The present invention relates to centrifugal separators of the bottom discharge type, and particularly to a. new and improved manually operated material discharging mechanism therefor.

In the commercial operation of centrifugal separators,

a mixture of solids and liquids is delivered into a gyratory basket having a perforated side wall through which liquid in the mixture is expelled by the spinning of the basket so as to leave an annular wall of solids adhering solid wall and lowered into the basket as the basket is slowly rotated so as to force the solids against the shoe.

It is known to provide counterbalance weights attached to cords that run over pulleys leading to the vertically Such arrangements are unsatisfactory because they require freely hanging lines either above the separator or along its side; and the extent of travel of the counterweight must equal the travel of the discharge shoe, or excessive weights are required with motion reduction arrangements that are inefiicient.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to pro- Another object of the invention is to provide a man- -ually operated material discharging mechanism for such a separator in which a predetermined substantially constant force is exerted in a manner to overcome the weight of the vertically movable discharge shoe mechanism within a relatively small, compact housing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a man- =ually operated material discharging mechanism for a centrifugal separator wherein a torsion spring is employed to produce a substantially constant force acting at all times,

tending to counteract the weight of the discharging mechanism so that a minimum of effort is required to raise and lower the same.

One aspect of the invention may be to support an oscillatable, vertically reciprocable shaft on the cover of a centrifugal separator such that the shaft may extend into the rotatable basket of the separator. The supporting means for the shaft may be arranged to support also an oscillatable bracket that may be fixed to the reciprocable shaft. A rotatable shaft at right angles to the vertically reciprocable shaft may be supported within the bracket, and a rack and pinion or other type of drive may be provided between the two right-angularly disposed shafts. A drumm'aybefixed to the rotatable shaft and a tape, the one end of which is attached to the periphery of thedrum,-may extend to, and be secured to the periphery of another drum journaled on a stationary shaft parallel to the rotatable shaft. A torsion clock- 1type'spri'ng may have its inner convolution connectedto ice the stationary shaft and its outer convolution fixed to the drum journaled thereon. The arrangement may be such that as the tape is wound onto and off the drum on the rotatable shaft, a predetermined substantially constant force is exerted, resisting the rotation of the rotatable shaft in one direction, which may be employed to counterbalance the weight of the vertically reciprocable shaft and the material removing shoe attached thereto.

Another aspect of the invention maybe to provide a torsion spring about the right-angularly disposed shaft within a chamber forming part of the bracket through which said shaft extends and arranged in such a manner that its inner convolution may be anchored to the shaft and its outer convolution may be fixed to a wall of the chamber.

The above, as well as other objects and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawing, which is merely exemplary, and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a centrifugal separator to which the principles of the invention have been applied;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view, partly in section, of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken substantially along line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevational view taken substantially along line -4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevational view of a modified form of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, the principles of the invention are shown as applied to a centrifugal separator including a base B that supports a non-rotatable housing H within which a basket B is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis. The basket B is adapted to be rotated at a plurality of speeds by an hydraulic unit M. The material to be centrifuged may be introduced into the basket B through a coverplate hingedly mounted on the top of the housing H, or through a feed pipe not shown. Additionally, the material being centrifuged may be washed in the usual manner and when it has been given the desired treatment, it may be discharged by gravity through the bottom of the housing H. Removal of the solids within the basket B may be effected by manually operating a plow mechanism P, which may include a counterbalancing mechanism C.

Referring to Fig. 1, the base B may include a bedplate 10 on which are mounted three equally spaced pedestals 11 (only two being shown) that house mechanism for supporting the housing H for limited oscillatable movement about a vertical axis.

The housing H may comprise a cylindrical shell 12 to the exterior surface of which brackets 13 may be fixed and which extend into the pedestals 11 to cooperate with the supporting mechanism therein.

The basket B may comprise a perforated cylindrical member 14 for the passage of liquid therethrough which is collected in an annular chamber within housing H. The bottom of the basket B may include discharge passages for gravitating solids therein out through the bottom of the housing H.

The basket B may be driven by a V-belt drive 15 extending from a sheave connected to the basket B on its vertical axis of revolution to a sheave connected to the hydraulic unit M. The top of the basket B may include a horizontal wall 16 having an enlarged centrally disposed opening 17 therein for permitting easy access to the interior of the basket B, and for providing clearance for various pieces of equipment that are adapted to extend interior-1y of the basket from the top of the housing H.

The top of'the housing H may be closed by a covere 3 i plate 18 that may be semicircular in form and hinged to the top of the housing H.

The above described structure is substantially similar to the structure shown and described in application Serial No. 657,801 filed May 8, 1957, in the names of Frank OConor et al., to which application attention is directed for an understanding of details not specifically described herein.

The plow mechanism P may comprise a vertically disposed reciprocable' shaft 18 on which may be formed a rack 19 ('Fig. 2). The lower end of the shaft 18 may be provided with a plow element 20 having a blade portion 21 adapted to be moved into cooperating position with the solids that adhere to the side wall of the cylindrical shell 14 of basket B. The shaft 18 may extend upwardly through the top coverplate of the housing H, and through aligned spaced bearings 22 and 23 formed within a bifurcated arm 24 of a bracket 25. The bracket 25 may be bolted'or otherwise fastened to the top of the housing H in a manner such that oscillations imparted to the shaft 18 will cause the blade 21 to be moved into and out of cooperating position relatively to the side wall of the basket B.

A bracket 26 (Fig. 3) may include an annular strap portion 27 adapted to surround the shaft 18 and to fit between the prongs of the bifurcated arm 24. A key 28 may be fixed in the strap 27 and ride within a key way 29 (Fig. 2) formed in the peripheral surface of the shaft 18. The bracket 26 may also support a horizontally disposed shaft 30 having a pinion 31 keyed thereto and in mesh with the rack 19 on the shaft 18. A handwheel 32 may be fixed to the end of shaft 30 opposite that supporting the pinion 31.

From the foregoing, it is evident that rotation of handwheel 32 will raise and lower the plow 20 within the basket B. In order to prevent raising theplow 20 too high, a collar 33 may be fixed to shaft 18 and it may abut the under surface of the cover for housing H before the plow 20 contacts the upper wall 16 of basket B. Likewise, a collar 34 fixed to the top of shaft 18 may contact the top of bracket 25 before the plow 20 contacts the bottom of the basket B.

It is also evident from the above that rotation of handwheel and bracket 26 about the longitudinal axis of shaft 18 will effect the movement of the plow 20 into and out of cooperating relation with the side wall of the basket B.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the counterbalancing mechanism C may include an enlarged housing portion 35 surrounding the shaft 30. A cooperating housing portion 36 may be bolted or otherwise removably attached to the portion 35. Two mating, semicircular drum portions 37 and 38 may be removably fastened together about shaft 30 by cap screws 39, and one of the portions may be keyed to shaft 30 by key 40. The end of a tape 41 may be provided with an eye portion 42 that may be received within a recess 43 and through which eye one of the screws 39 may extend.

The lower housing portion 36 may rigidly support a non-rotatable pin 44 parallel with shaft 30 and spaced therefrom. A torsion type of spiral clock spring 45 may have the end of its innermost convolution anchored to the non-rotatable pin 44, and the end of its outermost convolution fixed to the inner peripheral surface of a hollow drum 46 that may be journaled on pin 44.

The tape 41 may be wound on the outer peripheral surface of the drum 46 and its end opposite that connected to drum halves 37, 38 may be fixed to the outer peripheral surface of drum 46. In Fig. 4, the tape is shown as completely wound on drum 46, whereas in Figs. 1 and 2, the plow is shown intermediate its limits of motion.

The construction and arrangement of the parts are such .that the spring 45 exerts a substantially uniform tension on the tape 41 in a direction tending to turn shaft 30 oppositely to the direction it is rotated by the weight of' e 2,985,809 4 e v the shaft 18 and the plow 20. Accordingly, when handwheel 32 is rotated in either direction about the longitudinal axis of shaft 30, the spring 45 overcomes the weight of the shaft 18 and plow 20.

tion anchored to the shaft 30 at 49; and the end of its outermost convolution anchored to the housing 35 at 50. i

The spring 48 exerts a substantially constant force, tending to rotate shaft 30 oppositely to that incident to the weight of shaft 18 and plow 20 through the rack 19 and pinion 31.

Although the various features of the new and improved counterbalancing mechanism for a'centrifugal separator have been shown and described in detail to fully disclose two embodiments of the invention, it will be evident that numerous changes may be made in such details, and certain features may be used without others without departing from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a centrifugal separator having a basket adapted to be rotated about a vertical axis including a gravity bottom discharge means and a top coverplate for said separator, said basket being rotatably mounted within a housing, which housing is mounted for limited oscillatable movement about said vertical axis; means for removing caked material that may adhere to the wall of said basket comprising a vertically reciprocable oscillatable shaft that extends from the exterior of said separator to the interior of said basket; a plow blade on the one end of said shaft within said basket; a bracket on the top coverplate of said separator and adapted to support a horizontally disposed rotatable shaft above said coverplate a distance substantially less than the vertical distance said plow blade is adapted to be moved within said basket; rack and pinion means between said horizontal shaft and said vertically. reciprocable shaft for moving said vertically reciprocable tically reciprocable oscillatable shaft within a distance equal to that between said cover plate and said horizontally disposed shaft for applying force tending to rotate said horizontal shaft in a direction opposite that incident to the weight of said vertically reciprocable shaft and plow bkll-ade throughout the movement of said vertically movable s aft.

2. A centrifugal separator as claimed in claim 1, in which said continuously effective means comprises a drum connected to said horizontally disposed shaft; another drum journaled on a non-rotatable pin, parallel to, and spaced from said horizontally disposed shaft; a tape having its respective ends connected to the peripheries of said drums; and spring means connecting said journaled drum to said non-rotatable pin.

3. A centrifugal separator as claimed in claim 1, in which said continuously effectivemeans comprises a torsion spring surrounding said horizontally disposed shaft having its one end fixed to said horizontally disposed shaft and its other end fixed against movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Decker July 2, 7 

